Soccer is an increasingly popular sport in the United States, especially among young people. The availability of soccer fields, however, is a problem. This is understandable, since a conventional outdoor soccer field is very large, on the order of 120 yards .times.75 yards, or roughly 9000 square yards, upon which only one game of soccer can be played at a time. It will be appreciated that allocation of such a large space raises issues of use and expense, particularly in urban settings, resulting in few proper soccer facilities there. City dwellers must often travel long distances to play soccer, and have limited opportunities to play once they locate a field. Educational institutions must also balance the allocation of such large spaces to soccer fields against competing athletic uses and building sites.
A conventional soccer game requires 22 players on the field. People who are interested in recreational play are disadvantaged because gathering that many people and coordinating them is often inconvenient. Many people interested in soccer are therefore relegated to constructing makeshift fields of smaller size to accommodate smaller groups, using whatever is at hand for goals, boundary lines, and the like. Much time is also spent chasing loose balls when they are kicked out of bounds. A ball kicked out of bounds can travel a great distance before coming to a stop.
A common training technique for soccer teams is to mark a square in which two or three players practice techniques. Since such squares are usually in the middle of an open field, much chasing around after loose balls is necessary, which is especially disadvantageous because of the waste of time in a scheduled practice session.
Another training technique employed by individuals or small numbers of soccer players is to kick the ball against a kickboard, which can consist of anything from a brick wall to a panel specially designed for such a purpose.
By their size and nature, conventional soccer fields are not portable. Portable soccer playing areas could be advantageously employed in order to accommodate a touring group or provide a demonstration, or to enable more than one community to share the cost of construction of a soccer playing area while also sharing its benefits.